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ON RESEARCH

“Why Research?”

by Kathy Fite, ECE Network Research Chair
(Professor of Education, Texas State University, San Marcos)

   Research is at the heart of answering many of the questions that we have about the development and education of children. When I teach my early childhood education classes to preservice and inservice teachers, I identify research as an essential tool for becoming a successful educator. Both participating in and reading about research findings can help teachers clarify many of the things they observe but do not readily understand.

     Quantitative and qualitative research studies offer data which supports or refutes learning theory, yet students and teachers often fail to see the connection of the research process and findings to their planning and instructional challenges. Many view classical theories as unrelated to their work.

     I once had a student who told me her parents had both been early childhood education teachers for over 20 years. After my class lecture, she asked them if they knew about or endorsed Piagetian theory. Their answer was that not only did they not know who he was, but they felt knowledge of the theory was unnecessary to their being successful teachers. 

     What they failed to realize is that in any profession there are references, archives, and tools to help people be more successful. Doctors study medical journals and review case studies. Lawyers review past cases and judgments. If I went to a doctor with a mysterious illness, I would hope that he would attempt to research other similar cases to find out what was a successful or unsuccessful treatment rather than blindly try random treatments with no knowledge of their potential benefit or harm. If I hired a lawyer to defend me in court, I would hope that he had knowledge of similar cases or how best to approach my case.

     As teachers and teacher educators we need to view our profession more like doctors and lawyers who rely on their medical journals, cases, and archives to support their gut instinct of what will and will not be effective. We need to recognize that records of what has happened before or what has been studied in depth could greatly influence our interactions with students by adding dimension to our ability to help them along their developmental journey.

Send your research findings or research questions to Kathy Fite, ECE Network Research Chair: kf02@txstate.edu so that we may include them in future newsletters.